Means for the insertion of intravaginal packs



Feb. 25, 1947. 0, POPPER v 2,416,642

MEANS FOR THE INSERTION OF INTRA-VAGINAL PACKS Filed Feb. 18, 1944 Patented Feb. 25, 1947 MEANS FOR THE INSERTION OF INTRAVAGINAL PACKS Otto Popper, Johannesburg, Transvaal,

Union of South Africa Application February 18, 1944, Serial No. 522,949 In the Union of South Africa March 13, 1943 This invention relates to applicator for the insertion of intra-vaginal packs comprising a tubular casing in the forward end portion of which the pack is contained ready for ejection from the casing through an orifice at the forward extremity of the casing, and comprisin also a push rod that is housed in the casing towards the rear end of the latter and that is formed towards its rear end with a tongue that extends through a longitudinal slot in the side of the tubular casing.

In the operation of such device, after the applicator has been passed into the vagina, digital traction exerted on the tongue drives the push rod forward in the casing and so causes expulsion of the pack through the orifice of the casing. The forward movement and ejection here ment'ioned are such with reference to the tubular casing; since the movement relatively to the body preferably consists in retraction V of the casing from the vagina, after the casing and its contained pack have been fully inserted therein,

out likelihood of the tongue tearing when traction is applied to it. Another object is to provide a unit comprising the push rod and tongue thatis cheap and is adapted to be readily assembled with, and lock to, the applicator tube. A further object is to enable the slotted applicator tube to be made stronger and stifierthan heretofore.

According to one feature of this invention the tongue is made as a fiat fin the width or plane of which extends in the direction of the length of the slot, so that it slides edgewise when travelling along the slot. Its width is thus independent of the width of the slot so that on the one hand it can be a wide as is necessary for strength and on the other hand, the slot in the tubular casing need only be as broad as the thickness of the fin, that is, usually about the thickness of two plies of paper. A narrow slot of this kind weakens the casing to the minimumextent. For simplicity and cheapnes of manufacture 3 Claims. (Cl. 128285) and for strength at their junction, it is preferred to make the push rod and the tongue of one piece of sheet material such as paper or thin cardboard; said piece being a strip folded at a transverse fold to produce the push rod element and the fin element extending in the same gen eral direction from the fold but at an inclination such that when the push rod is within the tubular casing, the free orouter end of the tongue extends through the slot to be grasped. The difierent elements are given the cross-sectional forms suitableto their respective functions. Accordingly in order to form the fiat fin the fin element is usually folded longitudinally toform two plies which lie fiat with one another where the fin passes through the slot. The push rod'is given a V or other cross sectional form which stiifens it for its thrusting function and is also stable within the tubular casing by contacting'the inside of the tube at three or more points.

Probably the easiest way to disrupt such sheet material as paper i to start a tear from an edge of the sheet. On the other hand such material is strongest under pure'tension. The connection provided by the present invention between the tongue and the push rod is characterised by yielding at the sheet edges to tension transmitted through the tongue and being unyielding at another point so that traction on the tongue definitely drives the push rod forward. In order to facilitate such yielding of the edges and also in order to ensure that the stress on the tongue itself is confined substantially to pure tension, the connection made a pivotal connection that permits the tongueto swing to or from the push rod, that is in its own plane when it is in fin form. T

In particular the connecting formation comprises the aforesaid transverse foldin a strip and also a longitudinal fold thereinz said folds intersecting and' being sharply creased at their. intersection It is desirable that the transverse fold is not sharply creased towards the edge of the strip.

The inventiui is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Figure I shows an applicator for an intravaginal pack. v

Figure II shows the assembly of Figure I enclosed ina transparent envelope, as offered for sale. I

Figure III is a cross section on III--'IIIIFig'- ure I. v r

Figure IV shows the device in use.

Figures V and VI illustrate the manufacture of the push rod and tongue from a paperstrip.

In the drawings, l indicates the tubular casing. Its'forward half I I contains the usual cylindrical pack l2 of compressed absorbent ma-. terial that is to be deposited in the vagina. This displacement is effected with the ;aid of the push rod l3 that is initially housed in the rear end of the casing and which contact at its forward end 14 with the rear end of the pack I2. Ex-. tending from the rear end of the push rod and 'divergently from said rod is a tongue 45 that pro-.

trudes through a slot l6 extending longitudinally on one sode of the casing. In the use of the device, depicted in Figure IV, the tongue is manual ygrasped and traction is exerted on it in the direction of the forward endof thecasing tube; while counter-traction is exerted on the rear end I! of the tube, resulting in the push rod relatively moving forward in the casing and relatively ejectingithe pack l2 through the orifice 18 at the forward extremity-of the tube.

The push rod 13 is of suitable length to cause the tongue to be outside the'vaginal canal when the pack I2 is positioned high therein;

whilst on the other hand the positioning of the tongue I 5 at the rear end of the push'rod and its movement through the slot .16 in the side of the tube it enables the whole applicator to be of small length relatively to the length, or extent of relative movement, of any part necessary to ensure such .highinsertion of the pack.

According to the .present invent-ionsaid tongue 15 :is in the form of a flat fin that slides edgewise in the longitudinal slot Hi. The :push rod and fin are produced as a ,single unit and from a single strip of such sheet material as paper or thin cardboard. Figures V and VI illustrate a method of producing the unit; according to which a strip of paper l9 equal 'in length to the combined length of'the push rod and the fin is lightly bent back towards -itself--but not sharply .creased at a transverse fold 20, and therebydi-vided into the longerpush-rod element 19a and the shorter fin element lab. Then, with said elements inclined to one another at about the angle they occupy in the finished unit, the paper is folded laterally upon itself along its lengthwise centre line 2 I. This folding is preferably such as to produce a sharp and permanent crease along said centre line andparticularly at the point 22 of intersection of the transverse fold 20 and the longitudinal fold 2|. The result is much as shown in Figure VI; having a form which owing to the elastic flexibility of the longitudinal fold, can easily be flattened or allowed to expand to a form having a definitely V shaped cross section. a

The unit thus completed is assembled with the casing. H) by pushing it through the tube slot l6, when it is in'its flattened form with its edge 2| presented first to the slot. The push rod element passes wholly through theslot; and locks itself within the tube owing to its leaves spreading apart wider than theslot. The end portion 23 of the fin however remains outside the slot, the

angular relationship of the 'eleme ts I3, l5 being arranged to produce that result; and said portion 23 constitutes the finger holdfor operating the unit. The two leaves 24, 25 of the fin are then folded back against the external surface of the tube and there retained by the wrapping 26 shown in, Figure II, so that the wrapped device is of cylindrical form-suitable for economical packaging of a number of them together.

They. cross-sectional shape of-the push rod end 23 of the fin, when the device is put to use,

could cause either tearing of the fin itself, or

parting of the root 20, 22 of the fin from thepush 'ing if the stress on the fin is limited to pure tenconnection between the fin and the. push rod is a purely pivotal connection. The unit described provides a close approximation to a purely pivfolding of the paper about the same point avoids the presence of an edge which would encourage the start of a tear. At the actual edges 0f the strip the occurrence of stress sufiiciently high to start a tear is avoided, since tension exertedalong said edges merely causes them to yield in the sense that strip material from the push rod element 89a can readily .roll .round the fold 120 into the fin element lSb. Consequently both the?" I fin and the junction of the fin with the push rod.

gitudinal slot in its side and providing an ejec -v tion orifice at its forward extremity, the forward end of the casing cavity being adaptedto oontain the pack, and comprising a push rod housed within the rear end. portion of the casing and movable forwardly therein to eject the pack throughsaid orifice, said push rod being provided with a tongue projecting from its rear end and through 5 the longitudinal slot of the casing, in which'both the push rod and the tongue are formed of a continuous strip of sheet material folded transversely to provide the push rod and the tongue extending from the transversefold materially in the same direction, the junction formation between the push'rod and the tongue including a longitudinal fold intersecting the transverse fold, both said folds being sharply creased at their intersection to .cause the intersection to Joe the pivot point between said push rod and said tongue. Y

2. The applicator claimed in claim .1, in which the sharp longitudinal crease extends through the length of the tongue so that the latter readily assumes a two-ply fiatfin formwhere-it passes through the longitudinal casing .slot.

3. In an applicator for the insertion of an intravaginal pack and .of the kind com-prising a tubular casing formed with a longitudinal slot .in its side and providing anejectionorifice'atjits" 1 rod. There is little danger of the flrsthappem' sional stress; and such limitation follows if the 22 provides adequate strength; and the double terially wider than about the double thickness of forward extremity, the forward end of the casing .cavity being adapted to contain the pack, and also comprising a push rod housed within the rear end portion 'of the casing and movable forwardly therein to eject the pack through said orifice, a push rod provided with a, tongue connected to and projecting from the rear end of said push rod and through the longitudinal slot of the casing, said tongue being formed as a flat fin the plane of which extends lengthwise of said slot, said push rod being arranged to be thrust forward by means of said tongue; said push rod and said fin shaped tongue being elements of one piece of folded paper. 1

OTTO POPPER.

REFERENCE-S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,222,088 Petersen Nov. 19, 1940 2,351,836 Popper June 20, 1944 2,109,411 Buttschau Feb. 22, 1938 1290,16 1 Fuller Jan. 7, 1919 1,926,900 Haas Sept. 12, 1933 

